导读

Toys oddly remain the same

　　B) also appeal greatly to adults.

　　C) are not characterized by technological progress.

　　D) reflect the pace of social progress.

　　5. The author uses the example of a rattle to show that ______.

　　A) in toy-making there is a continuity in the use of materials.

　　B) even the simplest toys can reflect the progress of technology.

　　C) it often takes a long time to introduce new technology into toy-making.

　　D) even a simple toy can mirror the artistic tastes of the time

　　Answers: A, D, B, C, D

　　Now let us see how the correct answers can be found and what problems students may have in reading comprehension.

　　Question 1 tests the ability to make generalizations. To get the correct answer, you have to read paragraph 2 carefully and get the main idea of it. The first sentence of this paragraph tells the fact that boys and girls play with different kinds of toys. Why? The next two sentences give an account of the reason: their social roles are pre-determined and they are learning to step into the roles and responsibilities of their adulthood. Therefore, the correct answer to the question is A).

　　Question 2 is a global question. A thorough understanding of paragraphs 3 and 4 will help you find the correct answer. An important clue was provided in the question stem, ie. "the universality of toys". You can pinpoint the third sentence in paragraph 3 as the key sentence, which says: "It is the universality of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing". That is an emphatic sentence structure: It is... that... . Once you grasp the meaning of the key sentence, you can easily get the correct answer D). However, about 39 per cent of the students chose the wrong answer partly due to their poor mastery of vocabulary. Perhaps, they mixed up "universality", "university" and "universe".

　　Question 3 is another general question. It chiefly tests the understanding of the third paragraph, which discusses the universality of the development of toys from the perspectives of both time and space. Question 2 deals with the universality from the perspective of space, and Question 3, from the perspective of time. So B) is the correct answer.

　　Question 4 is a local question. It tests the understanding of the first sentence in paragraph 4. Obviously the correct answer to this question is C). But only about half the students got the correct answer. What's wrong with the other half? Perhaps "they (toys) have not been subject to technological leaps" in the first sentence, paragraph 4, is a pitfall for them. They don't know "be subject to" means "likely to be affected by", and "have not been subject to" means "are not likely to have been affected by".

　　Question 5 asks the students to guess the author's intention in including the example of a rattle. This question can be treated as a local question as well. If you understand the last two sentences correctly, you can hardly miss the answer to question D) because the other three can be easily excluded. About 60 per cent of the students got the correct answer.